Entertainment

The Saw Doctors whirlwind summer tour heads for Birmingham

The Saw Doctors in Limerick

VETERAN Irish folk rockers, The Saw Doctors are Birmingham-bound this week on the heels of sell-out US, Ireland and European dates.

In a remarkable summer's touring extravaganza, the County Galway quintet have criss-crossed the United States and Ireland throughout July and August.

Davy Carton

Performing shows in Cleveland, Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, the band returned across the Atlantic and played Halifax's expansive Piece Hall courtyard in West Yorkshire, before making it home to Irish shores for more dates.

Attending their Limerick Docklands show last weekend I captured them at their best. The midsummer night's Shannon-side crowd were high in expectation in another full capacity venue.

The band's ironically-named opener on stage Exhilarating Sadness bestowed instead a dopamine hit of excitement upon the raucous fans inside the large carnival tent. Saw Doctors classics then followed, including, Clare Island, Joyce Country Céilí Band, To Win Just Once and the inevitable enveloping of the stage in Mayo's trademark colours to welcome Green and Red.

Leo Moran

Enter then on stage some acoustic magic - Ireland's renowned national traditional music treasure Sharon Shannon, to accompany the Galwaymen. The County Clare musician holds the record for having the best-selling album of traditional Irish music ever released in Ireland.

She joined with her button accordion, to cover The Cranberries hit, Dreams as the crowd soaked up the surreal collaborative treat.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of The Saw Doctor’s hit, I Useta Lover which became Ireland's biggest-selling chart topper.

The Christmas number one in 1990 followed on from that summer's hit, with the nostalgic ballad, N17.

In the following four decades, the band's remaining and original front men, Galway's Davy Carton and Leo Moran - now in their 60s, show no sign of slowing down. Pensioner status or not.

Germany was added to the summer itinerary, with the band playing to crowds in Berlin and Hamburg. And just days beforehand, The Saw Doctors toured Scottish Highlands, playing to appreciative audiences on the Isle of Skye.

The Saw Doctors will play Birmingham's Pairc Summer Series Festival on Saturday, August 23, with support from The Undertones. They return for UK winter dates in Nottingham (7 November). London (8 November), Newcastle (5 December) and Manchester (6 December).

All tickets available via HERE